TempoPeek

The B‐52’s · Mesopotamia

Nip It in the Bud

Nip It in the Bud is in A flat major at 163 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

163 BPM · Vivacemedian of 168 analyses · 163–163 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A♭ major4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
99%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
168people who ran the extractor
One beat
368.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
442Hz · +8 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.9dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.585Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.277Essentia's danceability, 0–3

Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.

What the numbers say

168 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in A flat major, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 168 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 163 BPM one beat lasts 368.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 92 ms and a dotted eighth 276.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 81.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 326. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442 Hz, which is 8 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 3.9 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.585 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.

10 other recordings here are in A flat major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.

Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.

Keys that fit with A♭ major

Each of these differs from A♭ major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.

Delay times at 163 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41472.40.68
Half note2736.21.36
Dotted quarter1.5552.11.81
Quarter note (one beat)1368.12.72
Quarter triplet0.667245.44.08
Dotted eighth0.75276.13.62
Eighth note0.51845.43
Eighth triplet0.333122.78.15
Dotted sixteenth0.3751387.24
Sixteenth note0.259210.87
Sixteenth triplet0.16761.316.3
Thirty-second note0.1254621.73

Half time 81.5 BPM · double time 326 BPM. Every row is one beat (368.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Wasting My HateMetallicaA♭ major163BPM
  2. The Boys Are Back in TownThin LizzyA♭ major163BPM
  3. If I Could Turn Back the Hands of TimeR. KellyA♭ major162BPM
  4. Digging in the DirtPeter GabrielA♭ major162BPM
  5. A Change Is Gonna ComeOtis ReddingA♭ major164BPM
  6. SurvivorDestiny’s ChildA♭ major162BPM
  7. Never Say NeverThe FrayA♭ major162BPM
  8. Gangsta’s ParadiseCoolio featuring L.V.A♭ major162BPM
  9. You’ve Got a FriendCarole KingA♭ major166BPM
  10. Last ChildAerosmithA♭ major166BPM

Recordings in A flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 163 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A flat majorAll songs at 163 BPMA♭ major at 160–169 BPMThe B‐52’s

MusicBrainz collapses 10 recording ids into this one. Recording id 0ab51111-81b0-4882-a47a-1d815a91060d.